Burning
by La Mort Kage
Summary: Burning. You could hear it very clearly, echoing and blending with the screams of the frightened people. I stood there, unmoving while they all ran past me. I could hear the panic in their voices, see it in their eyes. And I liked it.
1. The first fire

Burning. You could hear it very clearly, echoing and blending with the screams of the frightened people. I stood there, unmoving while they all ran past me. I could hear the panic in their voices, see it in their eyes. And I liked it.  
  
I watched as the hungry flames devoured the village that was my home. The meca's fought in the ruins, destroying more of the village than of each other.  
  
One fell with a deafening crash, blood and fluids spurting from a wound in the chest cavity. I could hear him scream his last as he fell. And I liked that too.  
  
The flames danced as buildings and meca fell. The last of the people ran past me. A woman stopped beside me and grabbed my arm. I could feel her pulling me, but I did not look away from the sight of my home burning.  
  
She jumped in front of me and tried to push, glancing behind her every so often. She had ashes in her honey brown hair, and charcoal smudged all over her face. She screamed my name over and over, telling me we had to get away, we had to get to safety. I ignored her.  
  
Suddenly, all the noise stopped. Everything went silent, except for the flickering flames. All of my people's meca had been taken down, all the people who I knew and trained with in my youth were dead. Yet I felt no remorse.  
  
The girl with bright green eyes clung to me in fear as the enemies made their way toward us. The ground shook with every step, and somehow the fire got larger with every step the red one took. The red one. Colored like blood, obviously the leader.  
  
They made a circle around me and the girl, but I did not take my eyes off the red one in front of me. I heard the meca behind me open with a hiss and the pilots drop to the ground. They did this in order, moving in a half circle so that the leader was the last one out.  
  
He was dressed in bloody red armor, matching his meca almost perfectly. His short, white hair blew softly in the light breeze the fire fed upon. His eyes were as red as his meca, and a golden tiara reflected the fire light from his forehead.  
  
I could feel the girl trembling against me as she looked around the circle of our captors. She glanced up at me, as though expecting me to do something. I ignored her and watched as the handsome albino drew his sword in a beautiful screech of metal against metal.  
  
He raised the sword slowly and pointed straight at the girl's heart. She moved backward a few steps in fear as he began his charge. She screamed loudly and threw her arms up to try and offer some type of feeble defense.  
  
Her screams became garbled as the sword pierced through one of her arms and proceeded through her heart. The surrounding pilots yelled and whistled their praise of their captain.  
  
The fire burned brighter than ever, and formed a ring around the albino, the dead girl and myself. The man pulled his sword from her body and the dead girl slumped to the dirt, her blood pooling under her, her vivid green eyes wide and glassy and dull.  
  
The albino wiped his blood covered sword off on the girl's shirt. Deeming it clean enough, he sheathed it and kicked the girls body. Reaching down with a gloved hand, he tipped his fingertips in her blood and licked it off happily.  
  
He turned to me and the girl's body erupted into flame, the smell of burning flesh filling the air. He stared as her hair twisted into nothing and her skin bubbled and her flesh roasted.  
  
He heard the footsteps coming towards him and looked up, calm and steady. The man had a victorious smirk on his face as he walked towards me. I stared at him as he unsheathed a small dagger from his black leather boot.  
  
He came right up to me, but I was not afraid. I knew he was going to kill me, but I did not care. I just stared into his eyes, bloodthirsty, mad eyes, and lost myself even further. He tilted my head slightly with a gloved hand on my chin and pulled my face closer to his.  
  
Inches away from him, I saw him lift the dagger and slowly and almost tenderly place it against my right cheek. Slowly, slowly, he drew it downwards, the keen blade cutting my skin and bringing pain unimaginable. It resonated throughout my entire body, ripping and tearing, almost a burning sensation centered in that small cut. And I liked that too.  
  
)~(~)~(  
  
Van Slanzar de Fanel awoke and sat up quickly in his room in the newly rebuilt Fanelian palace. He was covered in sweat and breathing hard. His eyes scanned the room franticly, looking over the rich tapestries and the beautifully crafted furniture.  
  
Convincing himself that there was no one else in his room, he calmed himself and lay back down on his sweat soaked pillows to stare at the ceiling. He didn't understand what his dream meant. It was confusing.  
  
The girl who died was obviously Hitomi, but why didn't he protect her? He did love her after all, didn't he? And the albino, Dilandau, why had he been in his dream? And why had he liked it when such horrible things had been happening to his people?  
  
He shook his head and rolled over. It was just a stupid dream. He was just tired. He probably just needed a break from being king of the entire country. That must be the reason. He thought blearily.  
  
Slowly, his eyes closed and he drifted back to sleep, not noticing the blood dripping down from the half healed scar on his right cheek. 


	2. The second flame

Van. You bastard. You did this to them. You killed them all. I will get my revenge! The revenge for my 'Slayers! You will burn, Fanel. You will join you're damn brother in the underworld, where scum like you belong! I'll kill you! I'll burn you! Die Fanel! I will have my revenge! Chiku.. Chiku.. Chiku..  
  
)~(  
  
".And so you see why having lady Celena here would be an unwise choice. Bringing her to Fanelia wouldn't be the most wise decision." Van was walking through the courtyard with one of his greatest friends and strongest allies, Allen Schezar. Allen frowned down at the young boy-king.  
  
"It would be good for Celena to get out of the house, she was happy when I said you might let her come." Van stifled a groan.  
  
"You promised her, and now you're giving me a guilt trip. Allen, it's not that I don't trust your judgment, it's just." Van floundered, tactful words escaping him. Allen looked away into the distance, the words making themselves even more clear than if Van had shouted them out.  
  
"You don't believe that Celena is back." Allen said quietly, halting with the king beside him. Van looked up, trying unsuccessfully to explain.  
  
"It's just that. I don't believe that there ever was a Celena. When you found her the first time, Eries was with you at that graveyard." Allen's face tightened and they both started to walk again. "You told me what happened, and I. I don't want to take that chance. I'm sorry Allen, but I just don't know."  
  
They walked along in silence for a while, avoiding looking at each other for as long as possible. Allen finally sighed, and Van looked up at him, hoping he was going to say something. But the silence stretched, and Van lost hope, looking back to the ground.  
  
"She's different than I remember." Van looked back up, startled, and saw Allen had a faraway look in his eyes. "She used to always want to make friends with people, make them smile. Now, she wants nothing to do with anyone."  
  
A few birds chirped and Van let himself be distracted. Allen was going down memory lane, and wasn't enjoying the ride, evidently. Van frowned and kicked a rock, sending it over to hit the trunk of a tree. He sighed lightly, and that seemed to pull Allen back to the present.  
  
"Van, I need to be here because I'm a knight of Caeli, I have to protect queen Millerna and King. Dryden." He spat the second name out like a curse. There was no love lost between those two, that was for certain. Regaining control over himself, Allen continued.  
  
"And whenever I'm gone, Celena.. I don't know the full extent, but it's like she can't tell the difference between right and wrong, like a very small child. I really don't like this, but I need to keep an eye on her. I don't even know what kind of thing's I'll find in my bed sheets when I get home." Allen shuddered visibly and Van pitied him more than he knew.  
  
"Alright Allen, but you will send her home early. I don't trust anything that has. did have to do with Dilandau. Celena is one of them. You will keep someone trustworthy with her at all times, and I never want to be in a room alone with her. Scratch that, no one is to ever be left alone with her." Allen nodded, agreeing that, while he loved his sister very much, he would be the first to admit that she was dangerous.  
  
"Lord Vaaaaan! Lord VAAAAAAAN!" Merle ran out of the house, frightened by something. Van reached for the hilt of his sword, seeing Allen do the same out of the corner of his eye. "LORD VAAAAAAAAN!" She screamed, running full tilt, eyes wide in fear, and hid behind her beloved master. "Lord Van, don't let him get me!" She squeaked.  
  
Both Allen and Van drew their swords at this point, and pointed them at the doorway from which Merle had run, as if a bat from hell. They were incredibly tense and watched the doorway for some sign of her pursuer. She whimpered and clung to Van's leg, but he didn't try to push her off him. He suddenly felt blood running down his leg, and turned to look down at Merle.  
  
Her face was frozen in a blank scream, her eyes glassy and dull, blood seeping from a wound in her back. Van shouted her name, but he could hear no sound issuing from his own lips. It was if everything had stopped, and he turned his head to look at Allen. He could see his lips moving, but he could hear no noise.  
  
Then, Allen's head rolled cleanly off his shoulders, lips still moving in a silent warning. His body fell, and just before it hit the ground, all the sound came rushing back. But he wasn't in the courtyard anymore. Merle and Allen were gone, and in their places were five bodies. Bodies clad in blue armor, dead, but still standing.  
  
They were in a line, swords drawn and ready for battle. Suddenly, he was moving. Chopping off the head of one with blonde hair and innocent blue eyes. "Shesta." Cutting off an arm then stabbing one with long brown hair. "Dalet." Another he took down with slashes through his stomach, with odd whitish-purple hair that looked like a sheep. "Guimel." Another he simply sliced at until he fell from blood loss, with unruly brown hair. "Miguel." And the last one to fall with shorter blonde hair was simply run through. "Gatti."  
  
Van stood there, breathing hard. Suddenly, it started raining. Everything around him was dark, surrounding him and another figure, and yet the rain fell. The other figure started to laugh, holding their sword so it rested on it's shoulder and walking sideways, the red armor and black leather giving the identity away. However, it sounded as though there were two of them laughing, two with their bone-chilling, nightmare granting, soul shredding laughter.  
  
"My men died earlier today. They were weak. That is why they died. The weak will die and the strong will survive." Van shivered as he heard this, hearing both a man and a woman's voice in unison. Through the shadows, he could see a glint of a pair of red eyes, then they would disappear into the darkness. Once they reappeared, they were instead a grayish blue, but they lost none of their intensity or madness.  
  
"Oh, I'm all wet!" They exclaimed, sounding positively gleeful. "I do so hate the rain, it makes me so depressed!" Van could practically hear the giggle in their voices. He dropped his sword and listened to the clatter it made on the nonexistent floor. She, this time, walked forward, the sword still resting on her shoulder and a mad grin on her face.  
  
Van watched, not even feeling any fear anymore, just anticipation of something to come. She shifted the sword, making it glint in the darkness, and he watched, hypnotized as a drop of water rolled off the blade.  
  
"Yes, now it's time to play. Let's have some fun." They whispered, still holding the illusion of Celena. She leaned forward and pressed burning lips to his. Van felt a sensation, a tearing, burning, hungry sensation, and pressed forward to get more of it. She slipped her free arm around his neck and he wrapped both around her waist. They broke for breath, but not for long.  
  
But it was no longer Celena pressed up against the boy-king, but the other. They leaned against each other, trying to get closer than humanly possible. Van risked licking his nemesis' lips, and was granted entrance. His tongue felt like it was on fire as he explored the recesses of the moist cavern. Suddenly, their positions were reversed and Van felt the tongue inside him, searching with an expert feel.  
  
They broke away again, both gasping for air. The albino smirked as though he'd won, and finally removed the sword from his shoulder. He placed the tip of the blade against the gasping king's right cheek and smiled. Van just stood there, breathing. That was the oddest sensation he'd ever felt in his life, but he wanted more.  
  
"Damn you Van Slanzar de Fanel. You killed all of them. I'll have my revenge." It was the double voice again, but it sounded breathy and aroused. Van smirked and slowly pushed the sword away, and they let it fall to the floor.  
  
"Then have your vengeance." He whispered. They stared at him a moment, looking almost afraid, then they both smirk again. Van closes his eyes sadly, and a bloody tear traces a red path down his right cheek. He falls into the warm arms, blood pouring from the wound in his chest.  
  
)~(  
  
Van's eyes shoot open and he would've jumped out of bed, but for the body straddling his own. Red eyes turn grayish-blue in an instant and Celena Schezar is left staring at the king while he was sleeping. Van stares at her in terror, fearing that she would do something to him now that the dream was over.  
  
She smiles at him, then bends over and whispers something in his ear. Van goes deathly pale and Celena gets off him and leaves the room without a further sound. He sits up, unconsciously feeling the place where he'd been wounded in his dream. There was nothing there but some sticky sweat.  
  
He glanced down and realized that it wasn't sweat, but blood! Quickly, he pulls his shirt off, but there is nothing on his skin, no marks, no scars, nothing. Van remembers a few times where this has happened before, and shivers, remembering something else too.  
  
Glancing at the door, he gets up and makes sure that it's locked securely. Moving back to his bed, Van sits down on the edge and stares at the bloody shirt on the floor. He shivers again, then goes over to the window and looks out, not seeing the country that he helped rebuild, but a place of lost lives, of fear, of hate, a battleground, and homes and people burning to the ground.  
  
)~(  
  
Moero Van! Chiku, chiku, chiku.... Moero, MOERO Van....  
  
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LMK: I own nothing.  
  
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Kriyn Dake: Thank you. I know it sounded like Dilandau. That was what I was trying to do.  
  
Digital Senshi Sailor Who: I've seen your work and I'm impressed. You are good and I thank you for your comments. I know I could've left it at that, but I found an inspiration. So I wrote. 


	3. The final flare

He was standing, in the middle of a vast white expanse. There was nothing but white as far as the eye could see, but he could still tell where the floor ended and a vast white sky began. He looked around, finding himself free to do so, and saw something that looked very out of place in this world of white.  
  
There were almost too many to count, shadowy, black. They had the forms of a man, and held swords, and he knew there was something familiar about them. He saw one with a long black cape, and two cat-girls who looked identical. There were numerous nameless soldiers, but a few he recognized as Dragonslayers.  
  
They moved quickly to stand around him, surrounding him. He had no chance to get away, no chance to escape being skewered on their swords. Unless, he showed them his greatest secret. It seemed he had no choice.  
  
He could feel that familiar sensation spreading along his spine, almost a tingling feeling that centered between his shoulder blades. One of the shadows lifted their sword and seemed to scream a war cry, but he could hardly hear it. It thrust its sword straight at him, and would've disemboweled him if he hadn't moved to the side. However, the thrust wasn't completely off target, he got a long cut down his side instead.  
  
His shirt ripped as his wings came forth in an explosion of feathers, white and long and beautiful. A demon's curse. The shadows, things that looked human but weren't, staggered back in fear and awe, but he knew it wouldn't last forever, especially against the shadow of his brother.  
  
Jumping into the air, he beat his wings, twice the length of his body and allowed himself to soar away. He was happy, relaxed for once in his sleep. He had been having nightmares for over a week, ever since that girl arrived. He would be glad when she was gone, he couldn't understand his feelings towards her. One moment, he hated her for everything her other half had done, the next. it was confusing.  
  
Suddenly, the air seemed to ripple, and his wings buckled. He fell almost all the way to the ground again, but managed to slow himself enough that the landing didn't hurt quite so much. He picked himself up, out of the dirt and looked up, knowing he would be there again.  
  
He stepped forward, his leather boots tapping lightly on the ground, and he was grinning psychotically, as was his way. He walked right up, garnet eyes gleaming with an inner flame all his own, and grabbed a chunk of his hair. His wings twitched slightly in pain as he was dragged to his feet, and the silvery one slapped him, holding him up still by his black hair.  
  
"Van. You think you can get away by flying. Well, I can fly too." He giggled, and the winged one shuddered. He found himself suddenly on the ground, his face being pushed into the dirt.  
  
"You know that I'll never leave you alone Van." He told him, drawing out the name as a curse. His wings flapped wildly of their own accord, and knocked the red-eyed one over. He pulled his head back, blood seeping from his nose and gasped for air.  
  
"You bastard!" He exclaimed, jumping back onto his feet and kicking the injured angel in the side harshly. He held back the cry as he was forced onto his side, his wing bending almost so far that it would snap. He quickly rolled himself so that he was lying on his stomach again.  
  
But the assault stopped. Slowly, the winged one lifted his head and what he saw shocked him beyond movement. The garnet eyed devil was removing his chest and shoulder armor taking off everything but a lavender undershirt. The bleeding one's eyes widened as suddenly, something burst from his back, a pair of blood red dragon's wings.  
  
The garnet eyed one turned his gaze back to his victim. "You see Van? Now there is no escape." He grinned and walked over as the other's eyes filled with fear. He bent over and crouched down, becoming eye level with the stunned king. "I will follow you forever, until you fall down, exhausted and alone. Then we'll see how long the king will live."  
  
The angel stared with horror into the devil's eyes, and he knew it was true. No matter what he did, where he fled, this ruby eyed murderer would follow and kill those that offered him sanctuary. Slowly, shaking, he gained his feet again, the red winged one following his every movement. His lips parted for the first time in speech, the first time he ever spoke to the demon in his dreams.  
  
The demon cocked his head, still smirking, knowing victory was assured. The boy-king, who had not been ready to take this war upon his shoulders, stepped forward and embraced his enemy. The demon was taken aback, this had not been expected.  
  
"I'm sorry it had to be this way. I wish this never happened. I wish that Hitomi never came here and that I never had to kill your men. I wish you and I could've met under different circumstances, and that we wouldn't have to try to kill each other." He whispered.  
  
And as he spoke, he slowly slid the knife between the other's ribs. He gasped, and slumped forward, falling into the other's arms and the realization as to why the angel had come so close came to him.  
  
"So. this is the end. Not as bad as I thought." He whispered and his eyes closed.  
  
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Van's eyes opened slowly, but he did not move. The bedroom came into focus and he realized that his enemy was indeed lying on top of him, as he'd assumed. He shifted his arm, and checked the neck for a pulse. There was none. He sighed sadly and let a tear make a trail down the side of his face as he stared up at the ceiling.  
  
"I'm sorry Celena. You never really had a chance." He whispered to the darkness, hoping she could hear him. Slowly, he pushed the limp body off himself and got out of bed. The boy-king spread his wings, but there was no flurry of feathers this time. Gently, he picked up the body of the dead captain and made his way to the balcony.  
  
"Van!" A low baritone from the doorway cut through his thoughts and halted his movement. He didn't turn his head, but he knew who it was. The blonde knight of heaven walked over to him and grabbed his shoulder tightly. Van made no move to resist.  
  
"You will pay for killing my sister." He hissed, looking down at the body briefly with only a hint of the true sorrow he felt being projected into his eyes. "Come with me." He commanded. Van shook his head, but followed Allen out of the room. Just outside was Merle, who shrieked at the sight of the dead man in her lord's arms.  
  
They made their way down into the main council chamber, where Millerna, queen of Asturia and Chid, the young Duke of Fried awaited him. They had come a few days ago to visit, but they did not know it would end in death. When Allen's sister went missing and he asked all of them to help him find her, they thought she would be found in the gardens or some such thing, but this? No, they did not expect this.  
  
Millerna turned pale at the sight of Van calmly carrying the body of his greatest enemy while the Duke was more astonished by Van's wings.  
  
"I am going to take him to his burial grounds." Van announced and waited for their reaction. Allen looked as though he would very much like to rip Van's head off with Scherizade, Millerna seemed uncertain of what to do, but Chid seemed to know something the others did not.  
  
"You are welcome to bury him in Fried, if you like Lord Van." The small blonde child said, breaking the silence. Allen looked at his son as though he was crazy, but that seemed to make up Millerna's mind.  
  
"And you are welcome to bury him in Asturia as well." She offered, and Van smiled his thanks at the both of them. Allen glared at all three of them.  
  
"How can you let him do what he likes?! He just killed my sister!" He yelled. Van calmly looked over at the emotionally distraught knight.  
  
"I did nothing, Dilandau killed her." Allen stared at him, then down at the limp, unmistakable body of the captain of the Dragonslayers. He sighed and looked up at Van.  
  
"But Dilandau is dead. Celena came back, I saw her, I lived with her. He couldn't still be alive." Allen protested weakly, not wanting to believe. Millerna gently placed her hand on Allen's shoulder and he froze. He couldn't move, or he would do something that he would later regret. He would pent his sorrow in his room later.  
  
"I'm sorry Allen, but I have to go." Allen didn't move and Van took that as an affirmative. Chid watched as the Fanelian king walked to the hallway, and out the main palace doors with the body.  
  
Neither one of the two was ever seen again.  
  
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LMK: I own nothing. The end. Hope you enjoyed. 


End file.
